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As most of the Letters embraced in this volume were written
for the Editor of the late American Courier, and appeared
therein, from time to time, the writer thereof has not seen fit
to alter the local allusions, the style of address in the Letters,
or the appellation of “Needles,” by which they were
originally designated. As these Letters were commenced, and
many of them published before Mrs. Stowe's Uncle Tom was
written, its pictures of South-western life have no reference to
that work nor were influenced by it. These epistles are not
replies to any attacks on the South, but a simple representation
of Southern life, as viewed by an intelligent Northerner, whose
opinions are frankly and fearlessly given.

The object of this work is to do justice to the Southern
planter, and, at the same time, afford information in an agreeable
form to the Northerner; and if these objects are obtained
in any degree, the writer, in consenting to its publication as a
volume, will be fully rewarded. One important fact ought not
to be overlooked, which is, that ninety-nine out of every hundred
of the governesses, tutors, professional men, and others,
who flock to the South, “ten thousand a year,” for the improvement
of their fortunes, remain, (the young ladies, if they can
obtain “Southern husbands,”) and identify themselves fully with
the Southern Institution.

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